Right, said Fred

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002 | 9:52 a.m.

About 200 of his fans lined up at the Cowboy Christmas show Wednesday morning inside the Las Vegas Convention Center to get Fred Whitfield's autograph, adulation that still amazed the five-time world champion calf roper 10 hours later.

Two posed for a photograph with him, telling Whitfield that they had traveled from South Africa to watch him in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"It's crazy, it really is," Whitfield said. "Four or five years ago, it wasn't that way. A lot of that goes to the amount of TV coverage. Fortunately, for me, Fred Whitfield has become a household name. I'm known all over the world.

"I've talked to God knows how many people this week who say, 'Hey, we're from Ohio ... hey, we're from Minnesota ... hey, we're from Florida, and the only reason we came out here is to see you compete.' That makes me feel good, but I didn't envision this in my wildest dreams."

Blair Burk has always been a fan of Whitfield's, too. But now is no time for sentiment.

Burk, 29, is in a neck-and-neck duel with Whitfield, 35, for the world calf roping championship.

Whitfield secured a third-place finish Wednesday by roping and tying a calf in 7.5 seconds. He pocketed $8,309 for the effort, giving him $188,010 for the year. Burk, who finished out of the money in the sixth go-round, has made $179,495 in 2002.

They own the top two NFR averages, separated by four-tenths of a second. When the dust settles Sunday afternoon in the 10-day, $4.8 million rodeo, the top eight calf-roping averages will collect accordingly and the top dog will get a $35,705 bonus.

With the unabashed confidence of a veteran who has repeatedly been on rodeo's grandest stage, and repeatedly prospered, Whitfield said he had planned to have the title secured by now.

He also confirmed that his six championships -- he also won the all-around title three years ago -- give him an edge for the next four days.

"I've been there," Whitfield said. "Not to take anything away from any of the other guys here, I just felt like I was ready, you know? I figured it would be a done deal by this time."

It isn't, because of Burk.

"He's Fred," Burk said. "You watch Fred rope, he never backs off. He won't cut you any slack ... (but) I don't think he has an edge. He has titles and he has these (fans) out here, but we're trying. We're the ones coming for his spot."

Early on, Burk noticed that Whitfield kept his horses in impeccable condition, in appearance, performance and command. If a horse isn't properly prepared each evening, the most important part of the battle will be lost.

Curiously, that played a role in Whitfield not having clinched another title by now. He brought four horses to Las Vegas, with one whose sole responsibility was to ride in the grand entry of the opening ceremony.

Whitfield rode superbly all season on his brown Cinch, but Cinch had never ridden in the Thomas & Mack NFR pressure cooker. So he switched between his other two horses, who had been accustomed to intensity, for the first five go-rounds.

"I just decided (Wednesday morning) that I will dance with the one who brought me here," Whitfield said. "I'll ride Cinch the next four rounds. Hopefully, he can take me to a couple of big wins, and it'll be another world championship."

Burk has also entrusted a newer horse, a nine-year-old called Sweetness that helped Burk snatch a couple of sub-seven-second runs over the last two months.

So far, Trent Walls of Stephenville, Texas, has the NFR low round of 7.3 seconds, established Monday.

"If I don't beat myself, I'll end up winning in the long run," Burk said. "But the reason I brought Sweetness out here is because he has the ability to make stuff happen really fast."

That's how it happened to Whitfield, who was born in Houston and lives in Hockley, Texas. He obtained his Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association card in 1990, earned rookie-of-the-year honors and then became a world champ in '91.

"Hell, I was 24 years old and single," he said. "A lot of things came into play, and I wasn't really dedicated. Now, I have a wife and daughter, and ropin' is my life. I do it day in and day out."